'There must be full accountability': Biden 'outraged' by killing of Turkish American activist

WASHINGTON

U.S. President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he is "outraged and deeply saddened" by the killing of a Turkish American activist by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, saying the shooting "is totally unacceptable."

The president hailed AyŞenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, as "an activist whose idealism led her to travel to the West Bank to peacefully protest the expansion of settlements." He pointed to the findings of a recent Israeli preliminary investigation, which he said indicated Eygi's death "was the result of a tragic error resulting from an unnecessary escalation."

"The U.S. government has had full access to Israel’s preliminary investigation, and expects continued access as the investigation continues, so that we can have confidence in the result," Biden said in a statement.

"There must be full accountability. And Israel must do more to ensure that incidents like this never happen again," he added.

Biden has not spoken with the family of Eygi to offer his condolences despite a long history of calling families of bereaved Americans.

Ezgi's partner, Hamid Ali, rejected on Tuesday Biden's characterization of her shooting as “an accident," saying Ezgi was "peacefully standing for justice as an international observer and witness to Palestinian suffering."

Ali also criticized the lack of communication from the White House, saying: "For four days, we have waited for President Biden to pick up the phone and do the right thing: To call us, offer his condolences, and let us know that he is ordering an independent investigation of the killing of Aysenur."

Ali's statement came after Biden told reporters that "apparently it was an accident -- it ricocheted off the ground, and she got hit by accident. I'm working that out now."

The Israeli army said Tuesday that it is “highly likely” that Eygi was “indirectly and unintentionally” hit by fire from its forces.

Eygi, 26, a dual Turkish-U.S. national, was killed by Israeli forces during a protest Friday against illegal Israeli settlements in the town of Beita, outside of Nablus.

Eygi, born in Antalya, Türkiye in 1998, moved to the U.S. with her family when she was an infant and graduated in June from the University of Washington, where she studied psychology and Middle Eastern languages and cultures.

She arrived in the West Bank last Tuesday to volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement as part of an effort to support and safeguard Palestinian farmers.

Biden said the wider ongoing violence in the West Bank "has been going on for too long," and vowed to hold "extremists" to account.

"Violent extremist Israeli settlers are uprooting Palestinians from their homes. Palestinian terrorists are sending car bombs to kill civilians. I will continue to support policies that hold all extremists – Israelis and Palestinians alike – accountable for stoking violence and serving as obstacles to peace," he said in Wednesday's statement.